SCA Creates 'Deferred Candidacy' in Wake of Dubai Controversy

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has created a “deferred candidacy policy” for eligible World Coffee Events entrants who cannot attend international competitions based on laws, natural calamities, religious or gender restrictions in a host country.

If a national champion cannot attend an international event the champion can request to compete in the event a year later, according to the policy.

The announcing the new policy Nov. 10, SCA responded to concerns raised in September after 2018 World Coffee Event locations were posted. Among the championship sites is Dubai, U.E.A.

That decision was called into question the same day by the news website Sprudge.com, which highlighted the United Arab Emirates’ positions on human rights and specifically its laws forbidding homosexual behavior.

SCA promptly responded with a statement saying further planning for the Dubai events would be suspended. It later decided to put the decisions on hold while a panel reviewed the situation. The deferred candidacy policy is the result of that review.

“Today, we recognize the full spectrum of limitations that may exist for competitors and vow to honor the opportunity that each competitor has earned to represent their country at the international level,” SCA stated in the announcement posted on its website. “The resolution we on the SCA board have adopted is designed to acknowledge and respect a competitor’s inability to travel to a country while enabling them to keep their hard-earned opportunity to compete.

“Under the new policy, national champions who have a qualifying circumstance that limits or prohibits them from participating may request to defer their world championship candidacy to the following year,” the statement continued. “National bodies whose candidate’s deferment request is approved by the world championships committee of the WCE Events Advisory Council will be supported by a subsidy to cover additional travel expenses, should they occur.”

The policy was created “to protect competitors participating in a world championship event due to nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual identity/orientation, health, bereavement, or force majeure.”

Correction: As originally posted, this article incorrectly described SCA's actions in initially suspending further planning for the Dubai events. This article has been updated to correct the fact. We regret the error.